'Gun ownership is not a disease': U.S. Senator rails against Obama's use of CDC in gun debate

Chuck Grassley rails against Obama's use of CDC in gun debate

Republican Senator Chuck Grassley took umbrage with one specific portion of U.S. President Barack Obama’s executive orders on gun controls, namely that the Centers for Disease control be involved in the process.

“But gun violence is not a disease, and lawful gun ownership is not a disease. It is a constitutionally protected individual right, the famous Second Amendment right,” he continued, “not only part of the Constitution for 225 years but reinforced by two recent Supreme Court decisions. The president said that we suffer from an — quote, ‘epidemic of violence,’ end of quote. Although there is too much violence in America. Violent crime rates are at the lowest level in 50 years, not at epidemic levels, at least epidemic when compared to the — prior to the last 50 years.”

The CDC direction was one of several that Obama pushed for with the executive orders that form his “mandate” on gun control.

A month after the Newtown school massacre, Mr. Obama outlined his $500 million plan to ban “military-style” assault rifles, put a 10-round limit on magazines and introduce criminal background checks on all gun purchases.

Obama predicted there would be a fierce backlash to his proposals.

“This will be difficult. There will be pundits and politicians and special interest lobbyists publicly warning of a tyrannical, all-out assault on liberty — not because that’s true, but because they want to gin up fear or higher ratings or revenue for themselves. And behind the scenes, they’ll do everything they can to block any common-sense reform and make sure nothing changes whatsoever,” he said.

“I will put everything I’ve got into this, and so will Joe [Biden]. But I tell you, the only way we can change is if the American people demand it.”

Grassley isn’t the first person to bring up objections to the gun control measures.

“Nothing the president is proposing would have stopped the massacre at Sandy Hook,” Republican Sen. Marco Rubio said. “Rather than sweeping measures that make it harder for responsible, law-abiding citizens to purchase firearms, we should focus on the root causes of gun violence and keep guns out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill.”

Republican Congressman Steve Stockman of Texas had called the president’s signing of 23 executive orders illegal, his gun control proposals an “existential threat” to the U.S. and threatened to file to impeach Obama.

Stockman made the comparison to Hussein on Fox News after Obama was flanked by young children as he announced new gun control measures one month after 20 children were brutally murdered in the Newtown, Conn. school shooting.

“Even using children, it kind of reminds me of Saddam Hussein when he used kids …” Stockman said, before the Fox News host did him a favour by cutting him off.

Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal agencies to make relevant data available to the federal background check system.

Address unnecessary legal barriers, particularly relating to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, that may prevent states from making information available to the background check system.

Improve incentives for states to share information with the background check system.

Direct the Attorney General to review categories of individuals prohibited from having a gun to make sure dangerous people are not slipping through the cracks.

Propose rulemaking to give law enforcement the ability to run a full background check on an individual before returning a seized gun.

Publish a letter from ATF to federally licensed gun dealers providing guidance on how to run background checks for private sellers.